Out Of Character

[waysoftheearth]

sulldawga wrote:

Got to admit... I love reading some of the side stories as much as I love the one I'm involved in.

Can't wait to see what Jan does! [img]images/smiley/smiley.png[/img]

I agree. It's easier to wait for my story to advance when I can read some other cool stores in the interim!

[waysoftheearth]

danhem wrote:
I really am curious as to how Ways expected this all to go when he first started the game three years ago.

[waysoftheearth]

ehiker133 wrote:
I'm assuming he expected us to, at some point, actually make our way to the Hinterlands...

[waysoftheearth]

waysoftheearth wrote:

I really am curious as to how Ways expected this all to go when he first started the game three years ago.

Apologies once again for my tardiness... I was momentarily http://odd74.proboards.com/index.cgi?bo ... hread=8509side-tracked by Chainmail. Back at the helm now!

It's curious that you should ask, Danhem, as I was just thinking about this very thing last weekend.

(Waffle warning...)

Hinterlands got started way back in March 2010, but I'd been contemplating hosting a pbp game for a while.

I'd run several games by email before but never in a public forum. I was still quite green with internet forums (I still am), and I'd only been an odd74 member for 15 months or so. I can remember being nervous that my game might not be up to scratch among the old skool Grognards that hang out here, but it turned out that Fin was a true gent and he hooked me up with a sub-forum and "Moderator" status right away.

As far as my preconceived plans for the game, it's true that I expected -- more or less -- that the players would immediately tramp off to the Hinterlands, perhaps via a couple of small encounters along the way, and get stuck right into my revamped "Caves of Chaos".

They say "Life is what happens while you're busy making other plans." and it seems particularly applicable to D&D campaigns! This one has turned out very differently (thus far) to what I'd expected -- but that's been a great thing.

I reckon it all moved sideways after the appearance of the http://odd74.proboards.com/index.cgi?ac ... ge=4#46931Hinterlands Map.

The introduction of Lumbard Kort and the map was all purely invented on the spot. Of course, once the map had been mentioned, I realised I would actually need a map to show the players, so I hastily constructed the one you have now. I scanned a couple of medieval maps from a text book I had lying about, and photo-shopped the stuffing out them to arrive at the finished product.

The consequence was that you guys could much more easily set the agenda; and you did. From then on in (which is pretty much the whole of the three years since) you've chosen to hop here, there, and everywhere but the big cranky mountains in the top right area of the map. And I've invented just about everything you've found along the way either the moment you've got there, or (in a few cases) just half a step ahead of you.

The only part of the game which you've experienced that was genuinely pre-concieved has been Ket itself. I initially wrote the background "plot" for the campaign (Lord Ingo Gottfried's absence, the trade embargo, the Snorks in town, Trader Grumolg, etc.) simply as an adventure hook that would give you guys an excuse to get into the Hinterlands. I think it was about one paragraph long when we started. But it has grown organically into something much bigger and much richer.

You guys have poked and prodded at the world and caused me to create a much more elaborate vision of Ket, the Traders, the Snorks and all of the comings and goings. The neat thing is that somehow it's all still hanging together, and not only that -- it's way better than it would have been if I'd tried to invent it all up front.

Most of the location maps I have scribbled by hand (the moment you arrived) on scraps of paper, opened envelopes, and the back of bank statements or whatever else was lying around. I hope I can still find them all! I've used random dungeon rolls to get a gist of "what's there", and then fleshed them out with more thoughtful design so that it all "fits together".

The other thing that has been a much bigger effort than I anticipated has been the book keeping. With 15 PCs on the go in numerous locations its a serious challenge to keep track of everything. I've put a lot of work into a couple of spreadsheets which I use to track stuff... but even with these tools, it ain't an exact science. Players (and refs) make different assumptions about what coins were spent, and what change was given, and before long you have an accounting nightmare... so I've learned to be pretty loose with that kind of thing. No one cares overly much about a few penny-pinching coppers in the end, so long as the game continues to flow.

I still haven't got this to the level of sophistication I'd like to see (I update a record in my private spreadsheet online, and everything updates automatically for everyone to see publicly here in the game forum), but I'm getting there.

The other side effect of the way the game has panned out is that my central Hinterlands dungeon is still just a skeleton; a scratch map with a bunch of ideas in the margins. The good news is I haven't "wasted" a bunch of effort on a dungeon you might never explore. And the other good news is that there's plenty of room for me to adjust things on the fly if you ever do get there ;D

On the whole it has been immensely rewarding for me, and some of the player contributions have really made it. Keep up the good work guys, and maybe we will see those caves eventually!

(...here endith the waffle.)

[waysoftheearth]

verhaden wrote:
In other words, you've been able to develop a whole host of material for your Hinterland's campaign setting and rule book.

We're all waiting on that too [img]images/smiley/smiley.png[/img]

***

That being said, this campaign exemplifies the Foreword and Introduction in Men & Magic to a point. And you've got a leg up over Blackmoor and Greyhawk in that the whole thing's been documented.

***

Which random dungeon generation rules are you using to seed your areas? Your own or AD&D, B/X, OD&D, etc.?

[waysoftheearth]

coffee wrote:

The neat thing is that somehow it's all still hanging together, and not only that -- it's way better than it would have been if I'd tried to invent it all up front.

And this is why paper role-playing games will always be better than computer games, no matter how much they let you individualize your character.

[waysoftheearth]

waysoftheearth wrote:

In other words, you've been able to develop a whole host of material for your Hinterland's campaign setting and rule book.

We're all waiting on that too [img]images/smiley/smiley.png[/img]

I've thought about it, but the trick is I wouldn't be able to publish it without spoiling this current game thou [img]images/smiley/undecided.png[/img]

Still some more thinking to do on that one...

Which random dungeon generation rules are you using to seed your areas? Your own or AD&D, B/X, OD&D, etc.?

I've used a mixture of the tables from OD&D, AD&D, and my own stuff.

[waysoftheearth]

sulldawga wrote:

From then on in (which is pretty much the whole of the three years since) you've chosen to hop here, there, and everywhere but the big cranky mountains in the top right area of the map.

Ah-ha! The secret location of the Hinterlands revealed at last!

[waysoftheearth]

sulldawga wrote:

In other words, you've been able to develop a whole host of material for your Hinterland's campaign setting and rule book.

We're all waiting on that too [img]images/smiley/smiley.png[/img]

I've thought about it, but the trick is I wouldn't be able to publish it without spoiling this current game thou [img]images/smiley/undecided.png[/img]

Still some more thinking to do on that one...

Just let me know when the Kickstarter fires up and I'm in!

*throws money at computer screen*

[waysoftheearth]

waysoftheearth wrote:

(
Ah-ha! The secret location of the Hinterlands revealed at last!

I didn't realise it was a secret [img]images/smiley/shocked.png[/img]